Dr. Mary “May” Larry, a candidate for mayor, speaks to an audience inside of the former Kathy’s Kitchen, 9 N. 5th Ave., on Saturday during a campaign launch event for the My Maywood slate. | Michael Romain/VFP

During a campaign kickoff event held last Saturday at their party headquarters, located inside of the former Kathy’s Kitchen restaurant, 9 N. 5th Ave., candidates with the My Maywood slate formally launched their respective bids for local office.

Dr. Mary “May” Larry, the slate’s candidate for mayor, laid out a range of ambitious plans that she said she would undertake if elected. After referencing the recent decision made by Aldi to close its Maywood location, the village’s only full-service grocery store, at the end of this month, Larry said she’ll make Maywood “a place where we can live, work and play.”

“I’ve been talking with the village manager on ways to make it happen,” Larry said, adding that she’ll work with banks to acquire properties for several thousand dollars “to put them back on the tax roll,” repave alleys and secure federal and state grants for other projects.

“I’ve been a grant writer for 20-plus years,” Larry said. “I know about getting resources, grants and funding to the community.”

Larry also said that, if elected, she would try getting a trolley line built that would stretch from Loyola University Medical Center to Triton College in River Grove. The revenue from the trolley line, she said, would fund mentoring programs.

Larry is a sitting liquor commissioner appointed by Mayor Edwenna Perkins, who is running for reelection. Her son, Nathan Lee, operates Nate Comic Inc., a youth mentoring and jobs development nonprofit.

Maywood’s sitting village clerk, Viola Mims, is seeking reelection to a second term as part of Larry’s My Maywood slate. The slate’s trustee candidates are former village trustee and youth recreation advocate Marcius Scaggs; sitting Maywood Public Library board member Tanya T. Butler; and Sammie B. Rogers, Jr., an elder at Miracle Revival Cathedral in Maywood.

The ticket-mates argued that their candidacies would be critical to jumpstarting economic development in Maywood.

“We have been a very well-kept secret,” said Mims. “We need to be recognized and make sure that we have people coming inside of our town spending their money; instead of taking our money outside of town. That’s our agenda.”

Scaggs argued that the village’s current and previous administrations have been inadequate for the task of attracting new businesses to town.

“We need to search our hearts to find out what we need to do to make [greater economic development] happen,” he said. “We keep putting the same people in those same seats over and over again. For 12 years, we’ve had no development. We don’t have the right administration in place [to attract new development].”

“Me and you,” said Butler, riffing on the slate’s name, “can make a change in this community and put our tax dollars to work.”

My Maywood also supports Walter “Rob” Griffin, a candidate for the Maywood Park District Board of Commissioners, and Kimberly A. Hopson, a candidate for the District 89 school board. VFP

On this past Saturday, December 17th, the My Maywood Party announced intent to run in the upcoming April 4th, 2017 election.
My Maywood Campaign Theme: Positive Change

A crises on multiple levels exists within the Community of Maywood. Some of the issues of
dire concern are economic development and the hurting economy, with regard to
joblessness, Aldi’s and Seaway Bank closing, and food and nutrition deprivation. A food desert…..

The My Maywood Team proposes positive change.

To develop a thriving business district, we currently have investors under the leadership of the My Maywood Campaign Party, developing a proposal in which there will be a surplus of generated revenue benefiting the community of Maywood at large, as well as generating annual
rebate checks for residents.

We will focus on infrastructure, rebuilding roads and alleys. We will focus on making neighborhoods safe by instituting community policing and bringing back officer friendly patrolling.

Housing assist programs for senior citizens and veterans.

Finally, we are proposing to provide dedicated resources and programs for Youth Development. We will work in partnership with our FCC local school system.

We need to address all this inappropriate spending from the village heads an call for a better check and balance program from who handle the day to day operations. I attended the village meeting and notice these litigation settlements, the village is paying out big money. The WSJ spoke well in its early article about the corruption going on in the village. The village official using law enforcement officers for chauffeur, the store deal on 5th and the insurance provider of the store. The citizens are sick an tired of the games being played with our tax dollars, if you want some votes address the real problem with what causing our taxes to continue increase. The village has over 700 houses empty in Maywood, which is off the tax property. The only person who is bringing economic development here, is Bishop Porter. The citizens is looking for help, the tax levy went to 13, instead of 5 percent increase, that was stated in WSJ. Don’t play with our intelligence….keep it real!